Civil society groups have sent letters to the Minister of Health & Family Welfare and the Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers supporting the recent actions of the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) in bringing several medicines used in cardiovascular disease and diabetes under price control.

The groups have welcomed the initiative of the NPPA to cap the prices of formulations involving essential and lifesaving medicines that fall outside the NLEM as a first step towards the institution of a robust, pro-public health policy of drug price control. The NPPA has acted in the public interest by intervening under paragraph 19 of the Drug
Prices Control Order, 2013 to regulate prices of 50 medicines in light of evidence of overpricing and to curb profiteering.

The notifications are expected to have only a marginal impact on the retail market. The loss in sales revenue due to NPPA action has been estimated at approximately Rs. 350 crores. This represents a loss of only 2% in the anti-diabetic therapy segment and 2.5% in the cardiac therapy segment. Civil society has called upon the Government to
expand the scope of price control by bringing other essential and life saving medicines under price regulation in order to protect patients from overcharging and to promote public health.

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